How to get to General Santos by Plane - Philippines

General Santos International Airport is a facility serving the general population of General Santos City. Since it is located in Barangay Tambler, it is also known by its alternate name Tambler Airport. It is categorized as an international airport by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, a branch of the Department of Transportation and Communications, which is charged with overseeing the functions of other airports in the country with the exception of the major international airports.

The new airport took the place of the previous facility in Barangay Buayan on July 6, 1996 and as such was given its old IATA airport code. It now also serves the Rajah Buayan Air Base. The two major carriers serving the airport are Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines. Here we will look at how to get to General Santos by plane.

With the inauguration of the new airport, Philippine Airlines launched direct flights to Manila three times a week with the Airbus A300 aircraft. In November 1996, four months since it was launched, the carrier increased scheduled flights to five times a week and eventually daily flights commenced in December 1997.

In the same year, Air Philippines launched its operations at the new facility using its Boeing 737-200 and McDonnell Douglas MD-88 aircraft. However, the absence of a refueling facility forced the return trip to make a fuel stop at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport. In the early years of the 2000s, a new refueling facility was inaugurated paving the way for direct flights to Manila as well as Cebu City.

Cebu Pacific is another major carrier that is plying the route from Manila to General Santos and back as well as other destinations coming from the city. They started with two flights a day in October 2006 to give travelers more options when travelling to the South Cotabato region. With this new scheme, passengers can opt for morning flights leaving General Santos City at 9:20 am and departs from Manila every 7:00 am.

The new schedules also give them an option for afternoon flights leaving General Santos at 2:50 pm and from Manila at 12:30 pm. Aside from that, there are also flights departing to Cebu four times a week namely Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

If you are looking for the cheapest rates on how to go to General Santos by plane, Cebu Pacific offers its Go Lite program for the General Santos-Manila route, which is at P1,988. For those who are going to Cebu, the Go Lite fare is P1,188. Upon reservation of your flight, you just have to add P100 to your check-in luggage.